Truitt's Lawyer Seeks Navy Apology

Sailor Returns To Iowa For Gear

NORFOLK — With the media pack baying at his heels, former USS Iowa gunner's mate Kendall L. Truitt returned to Hampton Roads Monday to grab his gear and head out of town for good.

His lawyer, flamboyant Miami attorney Ellis Rubin, was expected to stay in town at least for today to try to talk with Navy investigators and to seek an official apology for back-door accusations that Truitt was involved in the April 19 explosion that killed 47 men aboard the battleship.

"I want them to restore this young man's reputation," said Rubin at a press conference outside the main gate of the Norfolk Naval Base.

Rubin was rebuffed by the Navy in his attempt to tour the Iowa with Truitt.

The attorney, known in Florida for his ability to use media publicity in a client's favor, said Truitt and his newlywed wife, Carole, had been "hounded by the media day and night" following revelations of a Navy probe into a possible murder or suicide as a cause of the Iowa tragedy.

Rubin said he has asked one of Truitt's home state congressmen, Rep. Glenn Poshard, D-Ill., to initiate a House Armed Services Committee investigation "to try to find out who leaked part of an ongoing investigation and as a result ruined this young sailor's life."

Poshard could not be reached for comment.

Truitt and Navy investigators have confirmed that the official inquiry into the cause of the explosions in a 16-inch gun turret aboard the Iowa has included questions about Truitt's friendship with Gunner's Mate Clayton Michael Hartwig, 24, who died in the blasts.

Hartwig had named Truitt beneficiary of a life insurance policy with a payout of $100,000 if Hartwig's death is ruled accidental.

Among other theories the Navy investigators have explored is whether the friendship might have been homosexual and whether tension between the two sailors over Truitt's December marriage might have led to murder or suicide aboard the Iowa, according to Truitt and Hartwig family members and Navy sources.

The family members have denied any such allegations, and Navy investigators have repeatedly said the investigation centering on the relationship of the two sailors is only one of several lines of inquiry.

Rubin and Truitt and his wife were met at noon at Norfolk International Airport by more than a dozen members of the local and national press.

During the preceding hour, on the last leg of their flight from Miami to Norfolk, Truitt divided his time between intense conversation with Rubin and affectionate nuzzling with his wife.

At one point on the flight, Truitt politely received the well wishes of a passenger who recognized the 21-year-old sailor from news reports broadcast last week on national television.

Squinting under bright television lights, the trio answered only a couple of questions at the Norfolk airport before Rubin told reporters to meet them at the naval base. The press pack followed, shouting questions, cameras clicking and whirring, through the airport lobby and out to the car.

Once there, Rubin accompanied Truitt and his wife on a last visit to the Iowa so Truitt could gather his belongings.

Because of publicity surrounding the investigation, Truitt was transferred off the Iowa and must report Wednesday to his new assignment with Cruiser Destroyer Group 8 in Mayport, Fla.

Although Rubin announced on Friday that he wanted to go aboard the Iowa with Truitt to look around the gun turret where the explosions occurred and to begin his own investigation, Navy officials did not allow him on board.

Truitt was escorted onto the Iowa, allowed to stay 10 minutes to gather his gear, and escorted off, Rubin said.

Rubin, who says he was a commander in the Navy, also said he wanted to join Truitt "to pay homage to his fallen shipmates."

President Bush had designated Monday as a special day of memorial for the 47 Iowa sailors who never made it back from what were to have been routine exercises off the coast of Puerto Rico.

Rubin also said Monday he wanted to talk to officials with the Judge Advocate General's office, the legal branch of the Navy and a part of the Iowa investigation.

"I was given every kind of dodge and every excuse that exists," Rubin said. He was told he would have to get permission from the Judge Advocate General's office to board the ship, but officials were unavailable Monday because of the Memorial Day holiday.

Saying the Navy was "playing games" in not allowing him on the Iowa, Rubin said he would no longer attempt to board the ship to gather information.

The Iowa will be at the Whiskey anchorage in Hampton Roads harbor for most of this week unloading its remaining store of old powder bags and receiving new ammunition, Navy officials have said. Most of the powder bags from Turret No. 2 had been removed for testing shortly after the Iowa returned to port after the explosion.

The Iowa is scheduled to leave June 6 for a six-month deployment in the Mediterranean.

There could be a variety of causes for the explosions, Rubin said, including unstable explosives.